Snowy Night

Snowy Night by Tilde Michels, illustrated by Reinhard Michl (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

PB RRP $12.99

ISBN 9780994100221

Reviewed by Leigh Roswen

Snowy Night written by Tilde Michels and illustrated by Reinhard Michl is a picture book told in verse.

Peter lives in a cottage near the forest. One stormy night a rabbit, then a fox and finally a bear come knocking on his door seeking shelter. Can all these natural enemies spend a peaceful night together? And who should they fear the most? This is a tale of kindness and cooperation with a thoughtful twist at the end.

This is not simply a rhyming picture book it is a verse story with over 20 stanzas of 2-10 lines each. It would be a joy to read aloud to 4 to 8 year olds. The text is not so suited to independent reading due to the long word count and the fluency required to keep the rhythm flowing. The story is clear and the concepts not difficult, so it is an ideal text to introduce a child to poetry.

Perhaps there are times the rhyme is a bit clunky but this can be forgiven because the verse never fails to move the clever plot along. In the hands of a good reader children will not notice this at all. There are also parts when the verse is beautiful and bouncy and would be a delight to read aloud:

Meanwhile the snowflakes keep on tumbling,

The wind keeps howling, roaring, rumbling,

The strongest trees are bending, breaking,

The little house is shivering, shaking.

The drawn illustrations in this book are a standout and complement the story on every page. The soft textures of fur and cloth and the facial expressions of each character are depicted beautifully. The middle spread of Peter and all the animals asleep in the house is just gorgeous.

This is a cosy bedtime book, like a lullaby, it is meant for settling and snuggling. It also has a message about cooperation in times of need, about honesty and human responsibility.

Reviewer website: www.leighroswen.com

The Ogglies Go to School

The Ogglies Go to School by Erhard Dietl (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

HB RRP $25.99

ISBN 9780994100719

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100214

Reviewed by Leigh Roswen

The Ogglies Go to School is the second title in the Oggly series created by author/illustrator Erhard Dietl. The Ogglies are green creatures with big noses, horns and super-strength. The Oggly family live in a rubbish tip and love everything dirty and stinky. One day Oggly-Grandma takes the Oggly twins to school on their dragon, Firebottom (complete with rear-end exhaust pipe). When the human teacher is called away Oggly-Grandma is left to look after all the children. What ensues is a wonderful day of mud and mayhem. But how will the children clean up before Mrs Lucy returns? The Mud-Puddle Song forms part of the text and the music score is included on the last page.

The Ogglies Go to School is a quarto-sized book. On every large spread there are busy colourful cartoon-like illustrations. When children have looked at all the school-children and quirky Ogglies themselves there are still more creatures in the background to discover.

It is a little difficult to put an age-range to this story. The text itself is quite lengthy (over a thousand words) hence would suit an older independent readership of age 7-10. Also there is occasional bottom humour that this age range seems to love. However, younger children (aged 4-6) being read to by a willing and time-enabled adult will enjoy the funny pictures, and the setting which is more like a pre-school than a school.

The Ogglies are bound to become favourite characters. They are weird-looking but lovable, family-orientated but chaotic, fun-loving and happy. The Ogglies Go to School is a scrumptiously rebellious tale and an antidote to notions of cotton-woolling, over-scheduling and vanity.

Reviewer website: www.leighroswen.com

Emotions in Motion

Emotions in Motion by Rose Stanley, illustrated by Lisa Allen (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100290

Reviewed by Leigh Owen

Emotions in Motion is a picture concept book suitable for sharing with 4-8 year olds. On each double page spread an emotion is assigned a colour, a face and a feeling. Rose Stanley’s descriptions of feelings are particularly insightful and imaginative: Confusion feels like walking in a maze of trees that all look the same.

Ten emotions, both positive and negative, are covered.

Lisa Allen’s illustrations are simple yet show some delightful details that children will love to spot (look out for the dragon).The sweet line-drawn characters clearly convey facial expressions and colour washes are either soft or vibrant, to complement each feeling.

There are exercises and discussion points in the back of the book; however, a more natural approach would be to talk about each concept as read. The use of the ‘colour wheel’ at the end of the book doesn’t seem to add value to the core topic of emotions. Also the colour for ‘Peace’ is somewhat inaccurate – that is, stated as bright, sky blue but more of pastel green in the main illustration and wheel. This might be confusing for children still learning their colours.

The value of this book lies it its capacity to promote discussion in which children can verbalise their own feelings and begin to understand the strange and sometimes overwhelming forces that are emotions.

Muddle and Mo

Muddle and Mo by Nikki Slade Robinson (Starfish Bay Children’s Books)

HB RRP $25.99

ISBN 9780994100757

PB RRP $14.99

ISBN 9780994100740

Reviewed by Leigh Owen

Sometimes simple is beautiful. This is the case with the picture book Muddle and Mo.

In fewer than one hundred words author/illustrator Nikki Slade Robinson tells a tale of Muddle, the duck trying to understand what he is and why his friend Mo is so odd.  Your beak is too hairy…. You should eat worms.

In fact, Mo is a goat and Muddle is a duck, which of course, children will know right from the start but following Muddle as he puzzles over their identities is the fun of the story.

The illustrations mainly consist of just the two stylised animals in various comical poses on a textured brown background. The simplicity is charming and somehow comforting

I imagine children will soon be memorising this book and reading aloud to themselves. This is enabled, not only by the sparse story and illustrations but also the large clear text and the use of different fonts for the speech of Muddle and the speech of Mo. As a reader I enjoyed coming up with voices for the two characters; the energetic duck and the more lay-back goat.

Muddle and Mo is a delightful book begging to be read aloud to 2-6 year olds.